>I was put into sex symbol slot: Zeenat Aman

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Zeenat Aman broke the typical coy image of Hindi film heroine and sported a westernized look. Known as the first sex symbol of Bollywood, her sheer screen presence used to churn money at the Box Office for her producers. The actor in conversation with Sreya Basu.

After staying away from films for years, you made a comeback with Dunno Y…Na Jaane Kyun in 2010. How was the experience facing the camera again?
I had gone away for about 20 years and I came back to films when people retire. I had to get a great makeup man, a great lighting director, a great cinematographer… and had to go on a diet to look beautiful and gorgeous. (Laughs) That was tough.

As of now, I have a couple of scripts and am going through them.

Tell us about your childhood days. 
I am essentially a Bombay girl…I was born at a nursing home that was stone’s throw away from the Taj Mahal Hotel. My father was a script writer from Bhopal. He wrote for films like Mughal-e-Azaam and Pakeezah. He died when I was a child (13 years).

He was very loving. He used to write beautiful letters to my mother and me. I didn’t have great proximity with him because I was away at my boarding school. But I remember him expressing a lot of affection for me.

How was your mother like? 
My mother was pretty incredible. I would like to think she was one of her kind. She was very emancipated and did a lot of things ahead of her times.

You got a scholarship to go to America for higher education…
Yes. I went to Southern California where I learnt to become a hippie, so that I could participate in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. (Laughs) Kidding! I was a boring student in America.

What made you participate in Miss India pageant on your return to India? 
I was doing a lot of modeling and commercials, including Taj Tea ad, at that time. We were walking the ramp, when my friends said you are in the wrong part, you should be in Miss India contest. Subsequently, I joined and went to represent India in the Asia Pacific contest (in 1970).

There a story that the first time you entered a film studio full of grime and saw dust, you said the glam quotient is missing. True? 
Absolutely. I went in and said ‘Where’s the glamour?’ And they (producer, director) said ‘Well honey, you are supposed to be it.’ (Laughs)

What made you sign Hare Rama Hare Krishna when many actresses turned it down since it was a slightly negative role with the character smoking? 
I knew it was a pivotal role and was happy to do it.

After Hare Rama Hare Krishna, everyone referred to you as the next big thing. How did that feel? 
Wonderful I guess. But honestly speaking, I have never been the person who believed in one’s own publicity-good or bad. In fact, when I started, I had no idea what stardom meant.

I just wanted to do this film and leave India. But then, the film became successful and Devsaab (Anand) said ‘Don’t go. You might have a career here’.

I waited and did Heera Panna, Yaadon Ki Baraat –which was a big hit, and Dhund with Mr BR Chopra…and so on and so forth; my films did well and one thing led to another and before I knew it, I was a big star.

Did you consciously break the rules of a Hindi film heroine? 
Not at all.

You were tagged as the sex symbol of Bollywood… 
Once I was put into a sex symbol slot, all filmmakers were shooting songs or offering me characters around that image. I am really sorry to say that I don’t think I really got an opportunity to completely break away from that, not even in Insaaf Ka Tarazu.

I never got the chance to show myself as a cerebral actress.

What do you think of today’s actresses? 
We have fabulous actresses today. They are doing an amazing job. They are all gorgeous as well as talented.

You know, in our films you have to be multi-faceted…you have to be able to dance, act, do stunts…and our girls are doing all of that.

Being a style icon, what’s your mantra to look gorgeous? 
Be comfortable in what you wear. If you are comfortable with what you are wearing, you will always feel confident and when you are confident, you project the real person that exists within you.

>Abhis Dum Maro Dum showing Goa as sex destination?

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Two months before its release, Rohan Sippy’s “Dum Maro Dum” has rattled Goa’s tourism industry as well as the state administration, as initial reports suggest that the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer delves a lot into the state’s sex and drugs racket.

Both contentious issues have put Goa on the international map of infamy and with “Dum Maro Dum” only set to reinforce that negative image, the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) is simply not happy.

“The censor board should have cut out the objectionable parts, if these portrays the state in a bad light,” Gaurish Dhond, president of the TTAG, told reporters here Friday.

Comprising of stakeholders of the travel and tourism industry in Goa, the TTAG for nearly three decades now has been the voice of the trade here.

“The film could have bad repercussion for tourism in Goa, if it throws up scenes of prostitution and drugs,” Dhond said.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said he read media reports about the negative portrayal of Goa in the film.

“I will check with police and find out what is the matter,” Kamat said.

Set in Goa, the film sees Abishek as a police officer and also stars Deepika Padukone and Bipasha Basu. The first look of the Fox Star-produced movie has all the nefarious ingredients, which has put the state under negative spotlight in the recent past.

In bold big-sized letters, ‘Drugs’, ‘Cocaine’, ‘Sex’ and ‘Ecstasy’ run through the racy promo, which also shows rave party scenes and sexy bikini-clad foreigners.

“British (teenager) Scarlet Keeling’s death case was hyped so much that people started feeling that our beaches are unsafe, which was not true at all in the first case. And now this,” Dhond said.

Known for its beaches, Goa annually attracts 2.4 million tourists, nearly half a million of whom hail from European countries.

Accusing the media and filmmakers of going overboard while portraying Goa as a sex destination, Dhond said the reputation of Goa is at stake.

“Goa has been built as a tourist destination over the years. You cannot allow some film to condemn it overnight. We have worked very hard for this brand. Why is Goa only being projected in a bad light? Drug abuse, rapes are being highlighted in a big way like this, which spoils the reputation of the state,” he said.

“Dum Maro Dum” is set for an April 22 release.

Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande said the police have not written to the producers of the film seeking a pre- release screening.

“We have not issued any letter to the producers of the film,” said Deshpande, a spokesperson of Goa Police.